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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CULTURAL SITE MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP

TUESDAY, 27 APRIL 1999

Participants at the Cultural Site Management Workshop heard
presentations and engaged in group discussions on the site
locale during the morning session and on authority structure and
financial support in the afternoon.

NATURAL AND CULTURAL ATTRIBUTES

Workshop Facilitator Peter Auer opened the meeting by
explaining
that a group of participants had met the previous evening to
distill conclusions from Monday’s discussions on natural and
cultural attributes of cultural site management (CSM). Noting
that an important objective of the Workshop was to help develop
a curriculum that could be tailored to both prescriptive and
educational purposes, they outlined key principles identified by
participants, including, inter alia: recognition of the natural
and cultural values associated with any cultural heritage
project; participation of relevant stakeholders from the start
of project development; provision of adequate time, budgets and
expertise to conduct effective assessments as a prerequisite for
project support; inclusion of regional and national management
planning; and development of a methodology, by the Bank, for
locally-based CSM.

THE SITE LOCALE

Pietronella Van Den Oever, Environmental Sociologist,
Environment and Natural Resources, World Bank Institute,
identified necessary conditions for cultural heritage
preservation, including technical, economic, socio-cultural and
stakeholder factors. She emphasized that stakeholder
participation is essential from the start of the process as it
taps into a precious resource, helps distribute benefits
equitably, and ensures social inclusion while reducing the
likelihood of opposition and conflict. She said the costs of
failing to involve stakeholders are considerable. Steps to
involve stakeholders include: social and gender analysis,
including identifying stakeholders and their respective roles;
participation; and mediation/conflict prevention. She presented
a model for working through the process of cultural heritage
preservation projects that includes motivational assessment of
key stakeholders, technical and economic analysis of resources
needed for project implementation, and gender and social
analysis to determine sufficient conditions for project success.

Joseph King, Coordinator, Africa 2009 Program, ICCROM,
emphasized the importance of community involvement in all phases
of the site planning process: implementation, monitoring,
maintenance, and adjustment for the future. He stressed the need
to utilize and respect a community’s existing mechanisms for
participation, while recognizing that a variety of interests and
values will exist within any community and ensuring that all are
given a voice in the process. He also noted that site security
can be significantly enhanced with community involvement.

Joseph Libsekal, Director, National Museum of Eritrea,
presented
information on a number of valuable cultural heritage sites in
Eritrea. He highlighted methods to involve local communities in
the planning of the Gohayto site, including discussions with
them to learn their oral history, understand the local ecology,
assess community sentiments about the site, inventory cultural
assets of the site, and develop programs to train local people
as guides, interpreters and site managers. He reiterated that
actively involving the community contributes to protection of
sites from degradation.

Mario Bravo, Cultural Heritage Consultant, discussed recent
stakeholder involvement in CSM in Ouro Preto, Brazil. He
detailed the tensions between the city’s economic requirements
and its preservation as a historic site. He identified its key
challenges: managing change without transforming the
environment; building consensus out of public discord and a lack
of trust; identifying viable alternatives to attract industries
that would not degrade the site; and implementing change within
a relatively short time frame. Steps to revitalize the economy
while preserving cultural heritage included: cross-dialogues
between all sectors of society; education and a public
information process, particularly through engagement of the
local school children; and a long-term perspective. He concluded
that there are considerable benefits from communications
campaigns that aim to involve the community, adding that an
informed and educated community is necessary and stakeholder
involvement throughout the process is essential.

Atakilti Hagege, Director, Bureau of Culture, Tourism and
Information, Ethiopia, outlined challenges and viable solutions
in cultural heritage management in Tigrai, northern Ethiopia. He
proposed: establishing training institutions in client countries
and cooperating with existing local institutions of higher
learning to develop viable curricula in cultural conservation to
address the shortage of skilled architects, archaeologists and
curators; investing in cultural infrastructure to transform
cultural resources into tourism products; and developing and
implementing training programs for site personnel, making them
direct beneficiaries from tourism revenues, and improving
information exchange on trafficking of stolen artifacts at the
international level to reduce theft of movable cultural
heritage. He highlighted the creation of interdependence between
tourists, host communities and attraction sites as a fundamental
basis for sustainable cultural heritage management. He also
noted that war is the primary threat to cultural heritage and
urged enforcement of basic principles, conventions and
international law in this regard.

In an ensuing discussion, participants raised a number of
issues
and questions for the presenters. One highlighted political
tensions between different parties involved in site management,
such as certain parties who may seek to hamper full
participation of all stakeholders, and stressed the need to
address this issue. Another speaker noted that, when discussing
different stakeholders’ values and needs, one must consider the
temporal dimension and tensions between “the real” (the short
term) and “the ideal” (the long term). For instance, while a
local community may value the cultural and historical
significance of a site, if they are living in poverty, the
urgency to fulfill their basic needs may be more pressing than
CSM concerns.

Participants then broke into small groups to address the
problems identified, propose solutions, and identify any other
issues and concerns related to the site locale. They presented
their conclusions to the Workshop as a whole. The first group
noted that specialists must be trained to work well with the
public and that trained staff should originate from the
community they work with to reduce suspicion and increase local
understanding. They emphasized the importance of capacity
building and said all projects should include a training
component. They noted that evaluation is important but cautioned
that measuring only economic benefits may be too simplistic and
that a methodology for evaluating benefits should be developed.
The second group emphasized the importance of scale and the need
to address and integrate national, regional and local factors to
achieve successful outcomes. Highlighting the local perspective,
they said a strategic approach to identifying and resolving
crucial problems is required, as is the use of cultural
resources to produce cultural products so the local population
benefits. Relevant stakeholders should be identified and
encouraged to educate each other about important issues in order
to promote understanding and agreement.

The third group stressed the importance of mechanisms for
achieving effective participation, such as: ensuring that all
stakeholders can participate and receive comprehensive
information about the alternatives and their likely outcomes;
increasing the number of stakeholders; involving a facilitator
who is neutral and trusted by all parties; empowering all
stakeholders to negotiate and trade; and guaranteeing follow-up
on participatory decisions. The group noted that mechanisms for
conflict resolution should be developed. The fourth group said a
successful CSM process should: identify stakeholders in a
systematic way; link the aims and interests of heritage
conservation with broader concerns and community needs; minimize
the social and economic costs and avoid disruptions caused by
relocation; work with communities to identify pressures early
enough to be able to influence them; ensure participation in all
stages of the planning and management of sites; and foster trust
among stakeholders.

AUTHORITY STRUCTURE AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Sharon Sullivan, former Executive Director, Australian Heritage
Commission, presented a planning model for the management of
archaeological sites. The first steps should be to document a
site’s history and identify and involve key groups that have an
interest in the site or influence its management. A significance
assessment to determine the site’s values and a management
assessment to identify constraints and opportunities that will
influence its management should both be undertaken. Management
policies can then be defined and strategies developed to achieve
management objectives, including strategies for maintenance,
conservation, visitor management, ongoing local involvement, and
business. Implementation, monitoring and reassessment are the
final steps. She emphasized the importance of moving
strategically in small steps and involving local actors and
managers in the management plan.

Giora Solar, Director of Conservation, Getty Conservation
Institute, presented the case of the Beit-Shean site in Israel
as an example of a successful management plan. He highlighted
employment generation for the local community and discovery of
the scientific and touristic values of the site as evidence of
the plan’s success. He described the creation of a decision-
making mechanism that included the National Parks Authority, the
Antiquities Authority, a financing body, and town residents,
with the town mayor acting as Chairman. An implementation
committee decided on the need for a master plan for the town,
which recognized that the site was to be developed and should
bring benefits to the town. He highlighted efforts such as the
implementation of a program to train local maintenance personnel
and tour guides that enabled the community to reap economic
benefits from the site.

Geoffrey Wainwright, former Chief Archaeologist, English
Heritage, focused on economic and political issues involved in
recent CSM developments at Stonehenge. Noting that Stonehenge is
one of Britain’s heritage icons, he said it has been described
by a parliamentary committee as a national disgrace. Problems
include the proximity of two roads and substandard visitor
facilities. He reported that English Heritage and the National
Trust plan to improve the site. Reforms include closing one
nearby road and tunneling another, which will be funded by the
British Government. A new visitor center is planned for a nearby
town, and a commercial partner is being sought to develop it.
The landscape around Stonehenge will be restored and nearby
fences pulled down in an effort to improve visitors’ experience
and revitalize the surrounding landscape. He explained that
these reforms were possible only after a protracted political
process lasting sixteen years and involving four government
departments. He emphasized the importance of political will.

Frank Penna, Principal, Frank J. Penna and Associates, Inc.,
discussed measures to mobilize investment in tourism,
highlighting the Bank’s efforts to encourage investment in
coastal tourism development in southern Albania. He said the
challenge is to harness tourism to produce societal benefits
while preventing site degradation. He emphasized that mobilizing
investment requires that the investment climate be improved to
make it more attractive to the tourism industry. He noted that
the Bank lends heavily for both components of the investment
climate: legislation on land use, zoning and regional planning
and its enforcement, and infrastructure. He described an
innovative initiative by the Bank to seek direct participation
from the trekking and small hotel industries to make
recommendations on where and how to best target investment. He
also highlighted the formation of joint ventures between local
communities and foreign tour operators to foster the trekking
industry in Bolivia.

Jane Covington, MBA student, University of Virginia, discussed
Zanzibar’s Stone Town Conservation Plan to preserve the
location’s historic character and benefit residents and
visitors. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, in partnership with
the Government of Zanzibar, implemented this project, which
included four elements: surveying the town, including
documenting building types, significant buildings and
infrastructure quality, and conducting a household survey with
economic and employment details; developing an action plan for
new construction in order to manage change; enacting necessary
legislation; and disseminating information about the plan to
relevant stakeholders through a variety of methods, including
training sessions, television and newspapers. She emphasized the
Aga Khan Trust’s effectiveness at sharing responsibility for
funding and encouraging community self-reliance.

Tulin Sermin Ozduran, Architect, Ministry of Culture, Turkey,
made a presentation on the Pamukkale-Hierapolis site in Turkey.
She noted efforts to develop and maintain the site to protect
its natural and archaeological characteristics and prevent
degradation by tourism. She described a national competition to
be launched by the government to spur efforts to enhance
archaeological remains at Hierapolis. Some initiatives
undertaken thus far include restoration works and landscaping.